Underframe for cars



"May 22,

R. R. WEAVER UNDERFRAME FOR CAR'S FiledTJune 5 1922 l 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 May 22, 1923.

R. R. WEAVER UNDERFRAME Fon CARS i FiledYJune 5,

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 I Patented May 22, 1923.

UNITED STATES PATE 'E VROBERT RWEAVER, OE CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, AssIGNOR To GENERAL AIvIERICAN TANK OAR CORPORATION, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION or wEsT VIRGINIA.

UNDERFRAME FOB CARS.

Application led .Tune 5,

stantially midway between the opposite sides thereof, and more particularly to center sills of the type comprising a body portion presenting relatively widely horizontally spaced side walls operatively connected together at the upper surface of the sill, and a member havin@ upper and lower flanges extendingllengthwise of the sill and connected with t e body portion of the latter, my pending application for United States Letters Patent, Serial, No. 508,139, filed October 17, 1921, ynow Patent No. 1,420,352, dated June 20, 1922, disclosing a sill of the general type above referred to.

As a premise to the following, it may be stated that the particular type of sill referred to, where the side walls of the body portion converge upwardly, is more commonly used in railway cars ofthe dropbottom type wherein the bottom of the car is formed with a series of plates generally one series at. each side of the center line of the-car and hingedly supported to the center sill substantially at the centerline, the centersill-being formed with the upwardly converging side walls, as stated, for the purpose of rendering the upper surface of the sill of as narrow a width as possible in order to `permit of the hinging of the doorforming plates as close to the center line of the car as possible, and to reduce, as much as possible, ythe presentation by the centerl sill of a surface upon which the material loaded into the car may be, retained in the dumping operation.

It may be stated as a premise to the following, that center sills of the type above referred to and involving 'as partsthereof, theg'upper andA lower. lianged beams, present great'tad'va'ntagesv over center sillsof 'the 1922. VSerial No. 565,858.

general type stated and not employing I- beams as set forth in my application above stated; and it is' my primary object to provide a yconstruction of center sill of the type above referred to and employing an upper and lower flangedbeam forming a top member, which will present the advantages above referred to and inaddition thereto permit of the depth of sill being varied to suit various conditions, merely by selecting a top member of suflicient depth t'o suit the conditions presented, while providing the bottom member Of the sill of a standard size; to reduce the thickness of the sill adjacent its upper edge; to permit of the provision of the sill either as of the straight type or the fish belly type, as desired; and in accordance with the preferred embodiment of my invention to permit of the body, o-r lower, member of the-sill being made i-n one Operation and relatively inexpensively.

Figure l is a broken plan View of o-ne end of a car underframe embodying my invention, the hingedly-supported plates forming the bottomof the car and the hinges for the same'being omitted. Fig. 2V is an enlarged section taken at the line 2 on Fig. 1 and viewed in the direction of the arrow. Fig. 3 is a sectional View of the center sill of the car and one of the bottom-forming hinged plates, illustrating the'manner of mounting the plates on the center sill. Fig. 4: is a broken -section taken at the line 4 on Fig.

2 and viewed inthe direction of the arrow.

sill, to extend transverselythereof, and .in

spaced relation to eachother, is a series of cross-frame members, one of these end membersV atthe end ofthe car shown in Fig. 1 being represented at 8, a bolster-forming cro's'sJframe member at 9, it being understood that the-members@ and v9 would be dupli` cated at the other end of the frame, and intermediate cross-frame members at 10e The ends of the crossmembers 8, 9 and 1() are connected with angle-iron side-frame members 11 in accordance with common practice, the side wall (not shown) of the car being secured to the marginal portions of the framework thus provided.

The car shown is of the drop-bottom type. its bottom being formed of two series of plates arranged at opposite sides of the center line of the car and hingedly connected therewith to swing from substantially horizontal carrying position, to downwardly-inclined, dumping position, each series of plates extending lengthwise of the car frame, and being 'located within the spaces provided between the center sills 7, the side members 11, and the various cross-members 8, 9 and 10. The center sill structure shown. which is of box girder form, is formed of a lower hollow, box-like member represented generally at 12, which extends lengthwise of the car and the full length of the latter, this member being shown as formed of the section 13 provided as an integral structure and affording side walls 14 spaced apart with their upper portions, represented at 15, converging upwardly and united with the other upper top section 16. The member 12 also comprises the angle-bars 17, which form the bottom chords of the struct-ure, these anglo-bars being connected at their vertical flanges 18 with the side walls 14:, in any suitable way, as by the rivets represented at 19, the member 12 also comprising a bottom cm'erplate,I represented at 20` shown as riveted at 21 to the horizontal flanges 22 of the angle-bars 17.

The center sill structure also comprises, in the particular illustrated embodiment of my invention, an I-beam, represented at 23, this beam surmounting at its lower flange 24: the top portion 16 of the member 12 to which it is rigidly secured, as by a series of rivets 25.

yLocated within the structure, above described, of the sill, is a series of spreader elements represented at 28, these spreader elements, which extend transversely of the sill and are located at intervals along the latter, being positioned therein coincident with the various cross-members therein referred to. rilhe spreader elements are preferably of the box-like form shown and are preferably of integral construction, affording a lower member 27. the bottom of which preferably extends flush with the under-surfaces of the lower-most edges of the walls 13, upright side portions 28 which extend flatwise against the side portions 14. upwardlyconverging portions 29 which conformingly fit against the inclined portions 15 of the rmember 12, a top portion 30 which entends substantially horizontally and lits against the under side of the top portion 16 of the member 12, and a plate-portion 31 from which the various portions 27, 28, 29 and 30 extend at an angle and with which they are preferably integrally formed.

The various cross-frame members referred to are of the same general construction, one of the intermediate cross-frame members being shown in detail in the drawings, and comprising plate-lile portions 32, the inner ends of which, flanged at 33, conformingly fit against the sides of the center sill, as represented more particularly in Fig. 2, and to which they are riveted, as by the rivets represented at 34, 35, 36, 37, 19 and 21, these various rivets extending through apertures in the flanged portions 33 of the sections 32, through the -beam 23, the lower flange of the latter, the side wall forming portions of the member 12, the angle-bars 17, and the bottom plate 20, all as clearly illustrated in the drawings. The sections 32 are arranged in end to end alining relation, as shown, and extending from one to the other of these sections at their undersides and across the'.

nndersides of the center sill and the spreader element, is a strap member represented at 38, which is riveted at its ends, as repre! sented at 39, to flanges 40 provided on the lower edges of the sections 32. Such ofthe -f also formed with av plate-section .42, which extends from one side bar 11 to the other thereof, overlapping the horizontal flanges 4:3 of the latter to'which they are secured as by rivets lll, which pass throughthese parts and flanges 45 provided on the upper edges of the sections 32, the member l2 being riveted at other places, at intervals, tothe flanges L15, as represented at 16.

@ne of the movable plates, hereinbefore referred to and forming the bottom of the car, is represented at l?, it being understood that a similar plate would be located at the opposite side of the I-beam 23 and that, in the particular arrangement shown, there would be a series ofthese plates at eachside of the -beam; The plates 117 are` hingedly connected with the center sill to extend at opposite sides thereof. as through the me'- dium of the brackets 4:8, one only of which is shown, whichv'is riveted zt l19 to the Vertical web lof the lv-beam 23 against which it flatwise entends. Each bracket 48 carries a pivot pin v50,V which engages depending flanges 51 on the door-section 17, the arrangement ofthe doors and the hinging means referred to being such, as shown, that when the door sections are in substantially horizontal position, as represented in Fig.

Sli

3, they will form, with the upper flange of the I-beam 23, a continuous bottom for the car, and are capable of swinging to outwardly and downwardly-inclined position to dump the contents of the car at the sides of the latter, the way in which these doors are releasably held in horizontal position and released to effect dumping not being shown as such are well known in the art and form no part of the present invention.

Among the many advantages presented by a structure like that just described, may be mentioned that of permitting the lower hollow member of the sill, while extending the full length of the car, to be provided in various forms, as for example, of uniform cross-sectional shape across its length, or of reduced cross-section at its ends, as in the case -of constructions of the so-called sh belly type, and still permit of the utilization of an upper and lower flanged beam extending the full length of the car, with resulta-nt economy and efficient functioning. It will also be observed that different depths of sill, as conditions may require, may be provided by selecting an I-beam of the desired cross-sectional dimensions, which are provided in a wide range of sizes in commercial use, without requiring a change in the hollow member to form the lower portion of the sill. In other words, the lower portion of the sill may be standard as to size. and sills of different depths may be built by using upper and lower flanged beams of different depths.

Furthermore, by providing the member 13, as stated, it may be manufactured very economically and when installedwith the other parts of the sill causes the sill to function in a highly desirable manner.

The construction shown in Fig. 6 is the same as that of the preceding figures except that, instead of the member 13 being formed as an integral structure, it is formed of two substantially similar members, represented at 52 and 53. and comprising the parallel side wall portions 52fL and 53, the upwardly converging portions 52h and 53" and the horizontal portions 52c and 53, these horizontall)7 disposed portions being` arranged in overlapping position as shown, and the rivets, represented at 54, which seciire the I-beam 23 to the body structure, represented generally at 12, passing through the overlapped portions 52 and 53c and through the lower flange of the I-beam 23.

It will be noted that in both of the constructions illustrated. the lower hollow member of the sill, which is sui-mounted by the flanged beam, extends continuously crosswise of, and beneath, the lower flange of this beam, the I-beam being rigidly secured at its lower flange to the top portion of the hollow body of the sill directly beneath it.

While I have .illustrated and described certain particular formsiin which my ini,

vention may be embodied, I do not wish to be understood as intending tolimit it ,thereto as the invention may be embodied in other forms than those shown, and the 'same may be variously modified and altered without detracting from the spirit of my invention.

That I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A center sill for a car comprising side walls spaced apart and presenting upwardly converging portions, and a member having top and bottom flanges sur-mounting at its lower flange the top portion of the structure comprising said side walls, and secured thereto.

2. A Center sill for a car formed of a lower, hollow, structure extending lengthwise of the sill and an upper, relatively narrow, member having upper and lower flanges extending longitudinally of the sill, said member surmounting at its lower flange the top portion of said hollow struct-ure and secured thereto, the portion of said hollow structure directly beneath said member extending continuously beneath said lower flange crosswise of the sill.

3. A center sill for a car formed of a lower, hollow, structure extending lengthwise of the sill and an upper I-beam extending longitudinally of the sill, said I-beam surmounting at its lower flange the top portion of said hollow structure and secured thereto, the portion` of said hollow struc-ture directly beneath said I-beam extending continuously beneath said lower flange crosswise of the sill` l 4. A center sill for a car formed of a. lower, hollow, structure extending lengthwise of the sill and presenting side walls spaced apart and upwardly converging, and an upper. relatively narrow, member having upper and lower flanges extending longitudinally of the sill, said member surmountingat its lower flange the top portion of said hollow structure and secured thereto, the portion of'said hollow structure directly beneath said member extending continuously b elpeath said lower flange crosswise of the si 5. A center sill for a car formed of a lower, hollow, structure extending lengthwise of the sill and presenting side walls and a top portion. formed integrally, and an upper, relatively narrow, member havingupper and lower flanges extending longitudinally of the sill, said member sur1noun.ting at its lower flange the topf portion of said hollow structure and secured thereto, the portion of said hollow structure directly beneath said memberextending continuously beneath said lower flange crosswise of the sill.

6. A center sill for a car formed of a lower, hollow, structure extending lengthwise of the sill and presenting side walls and a lcop portion formed integrally, said side walls at their upper portions converg- I ing upwardly7 and :in upper, releitivel7 nairrow, member having upper and lower anges extending longitudinally of the sill,

said member surniounting at its lower flange the top portion of said hollow structure and secured thereto, the portion of said hollow structure directly beneath seid member eX- tencling continuously beneath said lower flange crosswise of the sill ROBERT R. WEAVER. 

